Bitcoin news

Bitcoin is debating the 'The Cat' BIP, which would freeze millions of tiny Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs) created by Ordinals and Stamps to curb blockchain bloat and node-storage costs. Supporters say the move deters data spam and protects network efficiency, while critics argue it sets a dangerous precedent of asset seizure and erodes Bitcoin's censorship resistance principles. The proposal would label UTXOs under 1,000 satoshis as Non-Monetary UTXOs, allowing nodes to prune them, but the debate underscores a clash between operational pragmatism and core values.

Crypto markets face a historic Boxing Day options expiry, with more than $27 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum options set to expire on Deribit—over half of the exchange’s total open interest. Bitcoin options alone amount to $23.6 billion and Ethereum $3.8 billion; call contracts outnumber puts roughly 3:1, signalling a bullish bias. Max‑pain levels sit near $95 k for BTC and $3 k for ETH, while many institutions are rolling positions into January, adding noise. Despite the scale, implied volatility has eased to about 42 %. Post‑expiry flows are expected to steer 2026 direction, with traders closely monitoring key strikes; the outcome may mark a structural reset for the crypto market.

Silver and gold reached all‑time highs, but Bitcoin fell about 30% year‑to‑date, missing the hard‑asset rally. Metals benefited from a weaker dollar, expected Fed cuts and geopolitical risk, while institutional flows favored physical metals over Bitcoin. Bitcoin, lacking industrial demand, remains a high‑beta risk asset that only occasionally behaves as a safe haven; its upside hinges on future shifts in sentiment and regulation.

SEC filings in 2025 saw a record surge in blockchain references, with about 8,000 mentions by August that remained high through November. Bitcoin dominates the spike, driven by spot ETF filings and expanding crypto offerings from traditional asset managers. Regulatory clarity from the 2025 GENIUS Act, which set stablecoin reserve and AML rules, and the July Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, created predictable compliance paths. The clarity encouraged institutional firms to register and formalize operations onchain.

President Trump enacted a crypto‑friendly agenda in 2025, pardoning Ross Ulbricht, creating a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, signing the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, repealing an IRS rule that would have forced DeFi operators to share user data, and approving faster ETF listings. He also oversaw a settlement with Ripple that left the 2023 judgment on XRP intact. Bitcoin surged to new all‑time highs, spurring big‑wallet activity from dormant whales and the continued buildup by Strategy, which now holds over 3 % of the supply. The market saw a historic $20 B deleveraging that hit Binance, prompting a $283 M payout, and a $1.4 B ETH theft from Bybit’s cold wallet, the largest exchange hack to date. The year also featured memecoin turbulence, with Dave Portnoy launching JAILSTOOL amid backlash, and Ripple co‑founder Chris Larsen moving $140 M in XRP. Regulatory shifts and market volatility defined 2025’s crypto landscape.

Bitcoin’s 2025 was marked by a sharp boom‑to‑bust cycle that masked a flat yearly chart. The US government formalised a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and states followed, signalling Bitcoin as a sovereign asset. Wall‑street banks, the SEC and OCC cleared the path for institutional trading, with 60 % of the top 25 US banks now offering Bitcoin custody and brokerage. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust attracted over $25 billion in inflows, while ETFs gained in‑kind redemptions and options. The rally’s excess led to a steep correction to below $90 k, eroding miner profitability and forcing the top ten miners to pivot toward AI and HPC contracts, turning mining into hybrid compute centers. The year proved that structural adoption does not guarantee price growth.

On Dec 24, spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs recorded outflows as traders took the holiday break, with Bitcoin spot ETFs pulling $175 M net and Ether spot ETFs $57 M. The largest single‑day outflow came from BlackRock’s IBIT at $91.37 M, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC ($24.62 M). For Ether, Grayscale’s ETHE led at $33.78 M, bringing its cumulative net outflows to $5.083 B, while a smaller inflow was recorded in ETH$2,943.01. Holiday periods usually reduce volume and make desks leaner, so modest orders can trigger outsized ETF flows; this does not automatically signal bearish sentiment, as many moves reflect routine rebalancing, tax planning, or shifting between products.

Metaplanet halted direct Bitcoin purchases after MNAV fell below 1.0 in October, a move that allowed the company to exploit an arbitrage window by buying back its own discounted shares instead of spot Bitcoin. The firm then secured a $100 million Bitcoin‑backed loan and a $500 million share‑buyback line, backed by an extraordinary general meeting that re‑architected preferred equity and received a unanimous nod from Norges Bank Investment Management, positioning Metaplanet to pursue its 100,000‑BTC treasury target and resume filings with greater intensity.

El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, saw its 2025 ambitions move closer to reality amid lukewarm public uptake and IMF scrutiny. The 2021 law mandated Bitcoin acceptance, but Chivo wallet sign‑ups stalled, and the IMF conditioned a $1.4 billion loan on limiting the law, forcing the government to make Bitcoin voluntary and keep taxes in dollars. Despite the deal, the state continued buying BTC, buying 240 BTC in April and $100 m in November while holding 6 367 BTC worth ~$588 m, and crypto firms still view the country as a pro‑crypto hub.

Bitcoin sits near $87,000 as a record $23.7 bn worth of options contract expiry is set for Friday, potentially unlocking upside. QCP Capital notes roughly 300,000 BTC options and 446,000 IBIT options will expire, with a “max pain” at $95,000; after expiry, price could target $100,000. Meanwhile stocks and precious metals are gaining; gold hit $4,500/oz, silver up, prompting a waiting game for BTC as the market awaits post‑expiry volatility.